1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suspension support structure that joins and supports left and right suspension arms by cross members.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional suspension support structure, as shown in FIG. 9 of the accompanying drawings, suspension arms 103 are joined to and supported by first and second cross members 101, 102 disposed so as to be substantially parallel to the vehicle width direction, both ends of each of the cross members 101, 102 being fixed to a side frame (not shown in the drawing). The first and second cross members 101, 102 are linked by two struts 104, 105, which are disposed so as to be substantially parallel to the front and back direction of the vehicle, thereby forming, with the first and second cross members 101, 102, a substantially rectangular overall shape. In the case in which a vehicle having the suspension support structure shown in FIG. 9 is braked when traveling in a left direction in FIG. 9, if the right driven wheel (not shown in the drawing) rides up on sand or ice so that it spins, tire 106 receives a rearward-directed force 107 from the road surface, and forces 108, 109 act in opposite directions along the vehicle width direction at the linking part between the first and second cross members 101, 102 and the suspension arms 103. There is a danger that these external forces 108, 109 will cause a deformation in the rectangular structure formed by the first and second cross members 101, 102 and the struts 104, 105, such as shown by the double-dot-dashed line in the drawing. For this reason, there arises the need to provide some partial reinforcement at the joining parts 110, 111, 112, and 113 between the first and second cross members 101, 102 and the struts 104, 105, so as to establish rigidity in the rectangular structure to suppress this deformation. Although such reinforcement can be eliminated by making the first and second cross members and struts as one piece, if this is done there is an inherent reduction in the dimensional accuracy because of the increase in the size of the structure. For this reason, there is a danger that there is an increase in the chance of a relative position offset between the cross members and the side frame when these elements are assembled, leading to complicating assembly.